Posted on 11/13/2014 8:56:01 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Women in Ukraine's separatist-held Luhansk region will be arrested if they are seen in cafes, an insurgent warlord has said.
"A woman should be the keeper of the hearth, a mother," Wraith Brigade commander Alexei Mozgovoi says in a video recently posted on YouTube.
"If you want to be true and faithful to your husband, stay home and do your stitching."
This and other radical activity by the separatists have stoked fears that they are on track to becoming "Russia's Taliban."
Such a transformation would spell further trouble for the rebel-held area of eastern Ukraine, which is teetering on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe and in need of qualified governance rather than ideology.
The Ukrainian separatists are, however, no match for the Taliban's religious fervor, political pundits said Wednesday.
And the few who do fit the bill are being replaced by cooler heads at Moscow's insistence, said Mikhail Remizov, a respected pro-Kremlin analyst at the Institute of National Strategy think tank in Moscow. Conservative Uprising
On the same day that Mozgovoi spoke out against women frequenting public eateries, he and his comrades sentenced a man to death.
The verdict was passed on an alleged pedophile by a public vote of some 300 Luhansk region residents and separatists, according to a video uploaded to Mozgovoi's YouTube channel.
Another suspected child abuser on trial got away with being deployed to the front, giving him a chance to "die with honor," the separatists said Saturday.
The death penalty is not practiced in either Russia or Ukraine, but that has not deterred pro-Russian insurgents in the past. In at least one case in May, they reportedly sentenced looters to execution on the basis of a 1941 martial law decree issued by the Soviet government.
Conservative Christian values have also been much touted in the insurgency-hit Donbass region, making it onto the constitution of the unrecognized Donetsk People's Republic there.
Members of the LGBT community have faced verbal and physical harassment in Donetsk, though last month's reports that the city had criminalized homosexuality were debunked as a Ukrainian fake.
The ideological trend, admittedly, is typical for the whole region: Russia has ramped up conservative censorship in recent years, and the authorities in Kiev have banned "anti-Ukrainian" Russian movies. Humanitarian Struggle
Meanwhile, the humanitarian situation in the 6.5-million-resident Donbass region, which has weathered a five-month civil war, remains dire, all sides acknowledge.
Reliable figures are scarce, but Russia has deployed five humanitarian convoys to the region so far, each carrying hundreds of tons of food and other necessities.
A number of major cities, including Luhansk and Donetsk, still suffer from gas, water and/or electricity shortages, according to the website Dopomozhemo.tv, which tracks the humanitarian situation in the region.
A handful of reports also accuse rebel warlords of looting and racketeering, but the extent of the problem is unclear.
Some Ukrainian websites have reported Donbass natives' growing disappointment in the rebels, though the Kiev-based analyst Mikhail Pogrebinsky said it is not strong enough to translate into open protest. 'Nightmare Scenario'
Experts interviewed for this story agreed the rise of radicals is inevitable during war.
"When there's no government, all kinds of miscreants take the stage," said Pogrebinsky, head of Kiev's Center for Political and Conflict Studies think tank.
The situation resembles a microcosm of the popular "nightmare scenario" of Russia's own development, said independent analyst Stanislav Belkovsky.
Some Kremlin backers say President Vladimir Putin's heavy-handed rule is the only thing keeping ultraconservatives from coming to power and ruining the country with purges and economic incompetence.
But Belkovsky and his colleagues said the "nightmare scenario" is unlikely to play out in the Donbass unperturbed. Little Faith
For one thing, the Donbass separatists are not that radical, experts said.
A better comparison for them would be European radical conservatives such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban or France's Marine Le Pen, not the Taliban, Remizov said.
They also lack the spiritual leaders to promote a Russian sharia, columnist and philosopher Maxim Goryunov said.
"We shouldn't expect that people outside the clergy and without spiritual authority will be able to convince Donetsk residents to start observing religious fasts and going to church," said Goryunov, an expert on Russian conservatism.
"What they have now is colorful, but not so far from life in the Russian countryside," he said.
Russia does have under its wing a formerly war-torn region gone ultraconservative with the Kremlin's tacit endorsement in Chechnya, where alcohol is unavailable and public prayers are the norm.
But the North Caucasus republic, unlike the Donbass, is an actual state, de-facto independent under Russian formal patronage, said Belkovsky.
Moreover, religion-based conservative norms are anaemic in post-Soviet, formerly atheist eastern Ukraine, said Goryunov. The Russians Are Coming
But more importantly, Moscow appears to be replacing the independent separatist warlords with controllable men, experts said.
Though Russia has never admitted direct meddling in Donbass politics, a number of prominent separatist leaders, including Igor "Strelkov" Girkin and Igor "The Imp" Bezler, have inexplicably quit in recent months.
The new command, including Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky — the men elected to respective heads of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions at the unrecognized elections last Sunday — are generally believed to have ties to Moscow.
Securing competent governance in the Donbass, likely through direct involvement, is crucial for Moscow because continuing chaos would be a propaganda victory for Ukraine, Remezov said.
But Belkovsky said the warlords could get away with a lot of domestic blunders as long as the war-induced hysteria persists.
"They could make a real mess of things," Belkovsky said of the insurgency leaders. "But their warmongering will keep them in power."
>Mikhail Remizov, a respected pro-Kremlin analyst
respected by whom? I would guess by Mr. Putin.
Real men do not beat on and disrespect women and real men do not admire the kind of stupid savage animals like Putin who do. Only pathetic low stupid animals admire evil men like Putin.
Mozgovoi is a “true” Socialist, in the Nationalist Russian sense. He has embraced the “Soviet-Style” of leadership. He has also been a more-than-competent field commander, who has largely kept his mouth shut about problems with Moscow.
His forces are larger, and seemingly better-equipped than those in Donetsk, though the DNR forces seem to be better led.
Despite UK propaganda, the government in Donetsk is becoming more cohesive, in spite of the daily threat right outside of the city. The long delay in setting up a real civilian leadership structure in the DNR has really hurt them, though the original Ukrainian Mafia-types that originally took control seem to be largely gone now.
With Strelkov gone, and Bezler reported to be in Rostov, the Rebellion is becoming more “localized”. The now-veteran local field commanders like Motorola, Givi, and others, are taking over the day-to-day fight in Donetsk.
The government situation in Lugansk is less clear, and doesn’t get as much coverage.
you can argue that Putin is no gentleman, but Russians in general aren’t soft people.
Most people say that by two years old the "cake is baked." Putin was in women's care for those first two years of his life, so that's my guess where he learned his general brutality and attitude towards women.
And, I agree with you that the Russians generally aren't a soft people. I think it's part of their Slavic heritage.
Maybe some Ghengis Khan genes snuck into Putin's gene pool as well.
Russian colony having some trouble it sounds like, the “threat outside the city” would be the Russian army then?
“the “threat outside the city” would be the Russian army then?”
No, the very large concentrations of UK troops and artillery north and west of the city are the threat, which is why control of the airport is so important. Controlling the Nuclear War bunker system under it is critical, for both attacking the city, and defending it.
The similar mine tunnel system to the west and southeast of the city is why the UK’s could gain no real ground, despite local superiority there, before the Illiovsk debacle.
The real threat are the pogroms from the Russian Taliban it sounds like a real Lord of the Flies going on.
The Muslim Tatar and Putin's future TARTS are women who KNOW they are stealing another woman's husband. They KNOW that it's wrong but they just DON'T CARE.
THEY are young and pretty, they've got the whole world in their crotch hands and they get a roll in the hay with a powerful politician. THAT is their thrill. They have crotch-power and ENJOY the drooling males. That's what young women DO.
HOWEVER, what goes around Tatar-tarts...ALL women get old, saggy, baggy and haggy. THAT is life.
Then, what're ya gonna do? Call the ghost busters? WHO ya gonna call?
Given the amount of propaganda, who knows...
“pogroms” is likely a big overstatement, even with a single reported public summary court.
I do think things will begin to heat up again, though, fairly soon.
Kiev is no proven to be in a very weakened position, and the right is putting on the pressure. They have been building forces around Donetsk for several weeks now, and the hard winter is nearing. Even with the U.S. taxpayers, via the IMF, writing blank checks, they can’t keep those troops in the field forever.
On the other side, the International political situation for a big move, obstensively in reaction to a UK attempt to take Donetsk, will never be better.
The reported movements of high-tech Russian equipment in the last week, if true, could be very telling.
My uninformed, arm-chair opinion:
If the reports of four Jaguars crossing over this week are true, they could be a real game-changer for the rebels. This is largely an artillery war, and though only four Jaguars aren’t enough to win the war, they could decimate any large-scale UK attacks with accurate and immediate counter-battery fire, essentially cancelling the artillery stalemate.
Of course it is going to heat up again. The Russians are moving their troops and armor and will start their offensive again to take more territory.
The evil empire is back.
The EVIL EEMPIRE is back.
It is that simple.
The Debeltseve pocket is the most likely place for a rebel attack, IMO. It is a salient, and logically should be reduced.
Chechen drug smugglers dumped in Ukraine by Putin
...”intelligence reported that Putin beat his wife Lyudmila when he was a KGB spy “....
That’s not true , and because it is common in Russia for men to do so one of the reasons ‘she said’ that she married Putin and stayed with him is because “he doesn’t drink and he doesn’t beat me”.
I’ll believe her words over that of a German reporting otherwise. She also said that though she knew she didn’t love him when they married she grew to as time went on.
Lyudmila is an interesting study and their divorce was no surprise as they’d been basically living separate lives for a long while. It was just a matter of time to make it public, but most knew. And most knew about Putins other woman as well.
Putin’s announced that he will be flying missions on all his borders, including the Artic to protect his borders. Doing so because , of course, the entire situation between Russia, the US and Europe has certainly changed...as well throughout Asia, the ME and the Baltic nations.
We can all see that the deals struck, before Ukraine, nobody is keeping any more. The Eu and Nato too have changed their manuvers...so any that would even think Russia’s just going to stand by is just living in their imagination....
Besides...EU and US are still in the cold war frame of mind ...while ol’ Putin has moved ahead with China and throughout Asia , India the ME and any who are open for business. He’s going to definately protect those interests and project deals he’s struck...... While Obama only brings home a worthless “Chamberlain” Document from China meaning absolutely nothing.
However...Putin is not to be trusted nonetheless....he’s going to do his own thing, as is China and the nations now lining up with them, regardless of what EU or US thinks.....and we’ve been saying that he would for some time now. With just a two year window until Obama is gone, Putin and Chinia are going to be busy, just as we’ve seen.
Of course she could not publicly admit that Putin beat her. She has to say that he is a great guy and a fine moral upstanding gentleman. If you believe that you are quite gullible and your judgment about other matters should be dismissed as well. It says a lot about you that you accept her public statements at face value but do not believe the reporting of German spies who watched them covertly.
Putin is obviously a brutal and stupid man, the claim that he beat his wife rings true. He clearly did not value her as a wife since they have not lived as a true married couple and he threw her away like trash after she was loyal to him for so many years.
They don’t call fellow travelers useful idiots for nothing.
I don;t just accept her statements said publicaly...I’ve studied her for several years.However I forgot this and previous post where you’ve made it very clear of hatred for Russia and anything about Putin. So I digress. Frutiless to go further in conversation.
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